Raghuram Rajan to exit as RBI Governor: No country for good men

Raghuram Rajan will not be either getting another term or will not be accepting another term as RBI Governor. India will have to get a new RBI Governor from 4 September, when Rajan will return to Chicago University to resume as a tenured professor in the University of Chicago’s vaunted economics department. India’s loss will be Chicago’s gain. It will be difficult to replace him with another person of acumen, personality, experience, accomplishment and world stature. Most of our previous RBI Governors were mere flunkeys who let the nations banking and financial system drift towards the abyss. Rajan red flagged the NPA’s and the capital inadequacies of the PSU banks, and began moves to set things in order. I can be sure that there would be much relief spreading through many of our corporate headquarters, most of all of many corporate chieftains who are in the Prime Minister’s Councils of Advisors on the Economy, Infrastructure etc. [caption id=“attachment_2842892” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Raghuram Rajan. PTI[/caption] I am also sure there will be much relief in the upper echelons of our state owned banks, where many actively took part in the malfeasances that left the banks deep in the red. Many of these people owe their positions to the crony capitalists who greased the palms of the powers that be to position their soon to be benefactors in positions of authority. So there will be rejoicing among many in the upper echelons of the CII, FICCI and Assocham, and the 14 state-owned banks. Investments made and promises made will now be kept. During my recent travels abroad addressing groups of economists and industry leaders interested in India, almost the first statement one heard was one hoping Rajan would stay. We will no doubt get another RBI Governor, like we got a Pahlaj Nihalani at the Censor Board or Chetan Chauhan at NIFT and Ram Bahadur Rai at IGNCA. Maybe one who finds the approval of Subramanian Swamy and his mentor Chandra Swamy. While we are it, why not Dr Swamy as RBI Governor? He has the qualifications and the acumen required to do the job required. This noise and dust kicked by the likes of Swamy and others only goes to prove that India is no place for good people. Its good for only the Swamy’s of the world. As posted by Mohan Guruswamy on Facebook. Guruswamy heads the Centre for Policy Alternatives, New Delhi.